STM Reading
Please click here for information about our Reading curriculum
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Reading Progressions
Please click on the links below to access the English writing and reading progressions of your child/children's' years group. Thankyou.
St Thomas More follows the National Curriculum for English.
Click here to view a copy of the programme of study for KS1 and KS2.
Please click here to view our English Policy 2021 - 2022.
Mastery English
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The principle of a mastery curriculum is that all pupils keep up with the pace of the learning and that gaps are addressed immediately so that no pupil falls behind.
Teaching for mastery means that all pupils are taught together as a whole class through a highly tuned teaching approach.
For each year group, the Mastery English curriculum is built around three high quality, whole class texts which the class spend a whole term exploring and enjoying.
The texts are carefully chosen and are typically a classic, a novel linked to their topic and a contemporary children's author, perhaps to appeal to that particular class.
Every single pupil experiences reading and engaging with high quality literature by holding a copy of the book and sharing the teacher's passion for reading. The children read the whole text through individual and shared reading, which means that everyone can enjoy the reading experience and they can all keep up with the book.
The interesting thing about this approach is that the reading comprehension, grammar, punctuation and technical writing skills are completely embedded into the whole class teaching approach and taught in the context of the whole class text.
Through careful modelling and links to high class texts, each child becomes a prolific, effective writer and reader.
A key principle of the programme is the teaching of reading, writing, grammar and punctuation in context; this way, children see how important it is to be the 'whole package' as a writer, and they see how a writer's toolkit must be filled with a variety of skills and strategies.
Through our English curriculum, we consider purposeful writing outcomes that all pupils participate in.
STM Reading
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
In our school, we believe that reading is one of the greatest gifts that we can have and we promote reading for pleasure wherever we can. Our aim for every pupil is to leave St Thomas More with a love for reading, a knowledge of literature and comprehension skills that empower them to read across a range of genres and text types. We believe that if children can develop a good grasp of vocabulary at an early age, this will open up a world of knowledge and enable them to make important links with the world around them.
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Why do we read in our school?
~For enjoyment and fun
~To make more sense of the world around us
~To build a wide range of vocabulary
~To increase independence and self-confidence
~To enhance our imagination
~To increase opportunities for success in life
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World Book Day 2024!
Take a look below at some of the activities from World Book Day
and some photos showing the fun we had dressing up as our favourite characters!
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Opportunities to read within our school
All of our classrooms have a reading area within which children can spend time enjoying a range of books, carefully selected and chosen by our teachers to be appropriate to the cohort. All reading areas will be built around the theme of the class text for the term and they provide a comfortable, relaxing and safe place for our children to read.
One of the ways that we promote dedicated time for reading is through regular DEAR time which stands for ‘Drop Everything And Read’. During this time, children can read books on their own, with friends or they can enjoy a book being read to them by their class teacher.
In KS2, children take part in ‘modelled reading’ session three times a week. This time is dedicated to teaching reading comprehension skills across a range of text types and preparing children to do this independently. The sessions include teacher modelling and opportunities for children to answer questions confidently.
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Reading in EYFS
In EYFS, books are carefully chosen each half term that align with the children’s interests at the time. Children are read to every day and they enjoy a range of stories. Books are in the reading area for children to read and enjoy in their choosing time too.
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What do Staff at STM Read and Recommend?
Each week, we ask a different member of staff to recommend a good book
they have read, and why they have enjoyed reading it.
Take a look below at what STM staff members have said about their favourite books!
